Beyond the Narrow Life: A Guide for Psychedelic Integration and Existential Exploration

With the second renaissance and re-emergence of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, the general public and therapists alike are confronting new areas of exploration with few systematic frameworks available. With questions surrounding legal access to care, ongoing criminalization, and medical restrictions to care restricting to the therapies available, the immediate future of psychedelic-assisted therapy remains shrouded uncertainty, even in the face of expanding interest. Beyond the Narrow Life: A Guide to Psychedelic Integration and Existential Exploration seeks to ‘thread a needle’ by addressing shared elements of these intersecting complexities and possibilities. It introduces the reader to significant themes elicited by psychospiritual and therapeutic use of psychedelics but avoids exclusively ‘preaching to the choir.’ These themes integrate several frameworks, from third-wave cognitive-behavioral therapy to Jungian depth psychology, existentialism to scientific understandings of the cosmos, and mindfulness- and compassion-focused traditions to popular and secular culture. Such an approach provides value to people regardless of their history using psychedelics because it connects to the greater mysteries and concerns of the human experience.